The Crooked Billet roundabout links Staines to the road leading to London (Image: Surrey Advertiser)

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The start date for a year-long project to improve the A30 Crooked Billet roundabout in Staines is yet to be confirmed due to uncertainty over funding.

Originally the scheme was due to start in the spring last year, only to be delayed due to finances. An October 2018 document stated that £4.5 million had been allocated for design and construction, funded by Highways England (HE), the government body running the project. This figure has since risen to £6.5 million.

Pencilled in to begin in April this year, an HE spokesperson issued an update on Friday (January 10). He said: "We are still carefully considering our plans for an improvement scheme at the A30 Crooked Billet junction.

"Funding for construction of the improvement scheme was unfortunately not available in the current financial year (19/20).

"The scheme is still under consideration for funding in the next financial year, but we will not be able to confirm a date for the work to start until we can confirm that funding for construction is available."

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Public consultation events were held in October 2018 and HE says it is still analysing the feedback. The spokesperson said several people requested that the pedestrian over-bridge be retained, so it will now be included in the latest plans.

HE says improvements are needed as the roundabout is "unbalanced" and the number of lanes varies as you travel through the junction leading to "unnecessary weaving and safety issues".

The proposed improvements include:

to realign the eastbound and westbound carriageway markings through the centre of the roundabout on the A30 London Road to remove unnecessary lane changing;

to widen the A30 eastbound exit lanes approaching the roundabout to increase usage of both lanes, providing improved road capacity and traffic flow;

to remove the existing substandard subway and footbridge and replace them with the new pedestrian and cycle routes across the roundabout [the footbridge will be retained following the consultation]. This will link into the new pedestrian/cycle routes to be implemented by Surrey County Council towards Staines and Heathrow; and

to upgrade and synchronise the existing traffic signals to improve traffic flow.

The roundabout has been the subject of a number of collisions there over the past couple of years, including crashes in April 2017 and March 2018.

As the scheme's funding has not been finalised, traffic management plans are yet to be formulated. But funding is hoped to be part of the internal essential maintenance and renewals budget, when a new scheme of work is allocated for 2020/2021 in April.